US Senate votes to spare Great Lakes program from cuts

For the second year in a row, the U.S. Senate has voted to restore Great Lakes funding slated for drastic cuts in President Trump's budget recommendation.

President Trump’s proposed budget sought to cut the Great Lakes Restoration initiative from $300 million to about $30 million.

“For months, Michigan residents have sent a clear signal that they do not support the Administration’s cuts to Great Lakes funding,” U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said in a press release. “Because of those voices, and our bipartisan efforts, we ensured that every penny of this funding was restored so that the work of protecting our Great Lakes can continue.”

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative helps protect the lakes from invasive species and water contamination.

Congress passed a budget that gets us through the summer, Donald Trump has signed it, and it contains good news for all of us. For one thing, it means we have again dodged a government shutdown, at least till September.

For another, for the second year in a row, Congress has mostly reversed all the bad things the Trump administration wanted to do to Michigan. That would have included eliminating funds to protect the nation’s most important source of fresh water, a $300 million dollar program called the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.